nesariafandomcom-20200213-history
Nesaria in WW1
Nesaria in WW1 See also: Fate of the Ottoman Empire (due to be re-written; non-canonical) See also: Interwar Period The Nesarian Empire fought on the side of the Central Powers (or, more accurately, Quadruple Alliance) in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, it was the fourth most populous empire in the world, with approximately 99,000,000 citizens, of which 59,000,000 were in the "core countries". In the theatres in which the Nesarian Empire fought, there were just over 4.5 million military casualties and 2.9 million civilian casualties, totalling 7.4 million. The Empire's total losses of 2.2 million was 2.2% of the population. The territories abroad suffered the bulk of the civilian casualties, but since those from the core countries were hugely over-represented in the Imperial Army (comprising 75-80% of the army but only 60% of the population), they suffered most of the military casualties. The Nesarian Empire was overwhelmed and forced to surrender, and in the deeply humiliating Treaty of Aemea the entire Empire was broken up into its constituent nations (including the core region which had at that point been unified for over 1800 years), and the Nesarian state was forced to pay heavy reparations. Emperor Faltas V was the Emperor during the war, and the disastrous result ruined his reputation, eventually leading to him being deposed by Emperor Adrion I, a populist, nationalist and revanchist, who blamed the defeat not only on the incompetence of Faltas and his staff but on democracy, capitalism and subversive internal agents, leading him towards the radical ideology of Nesarian Fascism. Course of the War 1914 The strategy of the Quadruple Alliance was centred around the Schlieffen-Visina Plan. This plain assumed that the large size of their enemies would make their mobilisation slow, which would allow Germany to quickly strike at France by sweeping down on Paris through Belgium, while Austria-Hungary and the Nesarian Empire kept Russia busy and pushed onwards to Moscow, and once Germany had joined that front after receiving France's surrender, the Empire would switch its focus to the British Raj and make a general advance across the Indian subcontinent. Germany and Austria-Hungary would take parts of Eastern Europe for themselves and establish vassal states, but the Empire would be satisfied with humiliating Russia by being the one to receive their surrender (regardless of who got there first), as long as they received territory in India (although they did not plan to take the whole subcontinent). Reality did not turn out as planned rather quickly, partially because Italy did not join the war despite being part of the Quadruple Alliance, which meant France did not have to split its forces between two fronts and could focus fully on Germany. Additionally, Belgium saw Germany marching through its territory as an act of war and put up an exceedingly stubborn resistance, and Russia had been mobilising before the war's beginning, allowing it to strike both east and west immediately. The British Raj, however, was mobilising as slowly as expected, but the Empire stuck by the plan and did not capitalise on this, instead throwing all its weight at the Russians and leaving 300,000 soldiers to guard against the British. The casualties in these initial bull-like charges were staggering on both sides, and these opening months remain some of the bloodiest in world history. Japan also joined the war on the side of the Allies, although throughout the war they would be focussed on the German holdings in China and the Pacific and never made any serious attempt to invade the Nesarian Empire from the east. Japan was continuously criticised for this by the Allies, particularly the British, but they did not see any such action as worth the effort. 1915 The war was mixed at this point, having stagnated in France and moving little on the Russian front, and - disastrously - Italy had joined the Allies, forcing Austria-Hungary to divert away many of its soldiers from Russia and Serbia, the latter of which was putting up extraordinary resistance. However, Russia was slowly but surely being pushed back by the Nesarian Empire, and the first small attacks the British made against the Imperial position on the Indian front all failed. It is likely that these attacks were not truly intended to succeed, as the accumulation of British forces in the region was slow and the British simply did not have the numbers to make a grand advance, but were instead intended to scare the Empire into diverting soldiers away from Russia - but the Empire held its nerve and did not budge. In November of 1915 the Russian government relocated from Petrograd (St. Petersburg) to Moscow. Although the official capital remained in Petrograd, Moscow was in a more convenient location to manage the war from, and all the state officials (as well as the Tsar and his family) settled in Moscow, to return back to Petrograd after the end of the war. 1916 The war in the west was now very stagnant, but it had picked up speed in the east. The Brusilov Offensive saw Russia make huge gains against Germany and Austria-Hungary, but in order to achieve this the Russians had to divert supplies away from the front with the Nesarian Empire, resulting in a supply shortage which eventually turned into a crisis as the Empire swept aside enemies running low on rations and ammunition with relative ease. In a panic, the Russians began redirecting supplies to the eastern front, but at that point it was already too late. The Imperial army took the risk and made a beeline straight for Moscow, banking on the fact that their advance would be so swift that the morale of the weakened Russians would shatter and not recover, leaving them unable to carry out the fairly simple operation of cutting off the Imperial army at the rear. This gamble ultimately paid off as they successfully came within sight of the city by November, as Tsar Nicholas II wrote: "I never expected the Nesarians to come so quickly. Another six months at the least, I thought... When I could see the dark shadow of their monstrously vast column from Moscow, and when I could hear artillery not only from the east but from the west as well, I knew it was over. Everyone did." The Tsar surrendered rather than see the city destroyed. He initially went to the Germans, but - much to his chagrin - they redirected him to the Nesarians, who stated that they would only receive a conditional surrender if Tsar Nicholas himself surrendered to Regatu Faltas himself - any other means of surrender would necessitate a total and unconditional surrender, with Russia placed totally at the mercy of the Triple Alliance (which had been renamed since the betrayal of Italy). The Tsar reluctantly agreed, and he handed over his sword to the Regatu on the 21st of November, 1916. Faltas allowed the Tsar to keep his sword, saying: "You may keep your blade, as you may keep your country. The Germans and Austrians have their ambitions with your realm, but I will see to it that the Rus remain your subjects. I pray we never fight again." Faltas could only partially deliver on his promise. He ensured that the Germans did not lay claim to any of Belarus, but a fierce argument developed over the future of Ukraine. Both the Tsar and the Regatu were unwilling to either cede any part of Ukraine or make it independent, whereas both Germany and Austria-Hungary desired a small chunk of the country ceded to Austria-Hungary and the rest made independent. Ultimately, the Tsar was taken out of the equation in the December Revolution on the 23rd of December, when the Tsar abdicated in favour of a republic, which agreed to Germany's terms in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on the 29th. Immediately after the Tsar's surrender, three-quarters of the Imperial army present in Russia began the long journey to India, but they would not arrive until the following year. When the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, the remaining quarter also began to relocate. In India, the British judged their forces to be sufficient to launch a colossal offensive across the whole front in May of 1916. The Imperial army was woefully undermanned and under-equipped to defend against such a vast assault, but Major Enaal Ranakke stepped above and beyond his station, almost taking control of all the Imperial forces in the region and making excellent use of the favourable geography and creative stealth tactics to put a halt to the British advance. It is likely that the Empire would have totally collapsed on this front if not for his efforts, earning him the respect of the British commanders and the adoration of the Imperial public. Ranakke himself appreciated the former but loathed the latter. 1917 With Russia out of the war, the Empire now brought its full force against the British in India. Despite Ranakke's best efforts, the line was beginning to crack under the sheer weight of the British offensive, and the reinforcements arrived just in time to bolster the front, in late January. The huge British assault in the Battle of Karz was repulsed, and, invigorated by the victory, the Imperial army launched a counter-attack which took the reeling British forces off-guard. In what has largely been regarded a serious blunder ever since, the British decided to retreat all the way to the Indus River in March, to give themselves time to establish a defensive position that the British command deemed "impenetrable", which was much easier to supply. Although this idea itself was approved by most, the great majority of lower officers - as well as modern historians - were furious about the British giving up the land west of the river on a whim, offering only token resistance. Many of the Indian regiments openly mutinitied, and the majority of these actually ended up defecting to the Imperial side. However, some revisionist historians have argued that this move was not as insane as it seemed, because it was at this time that the British also began heavily supporting Persian nationalist militia groups, and secret letters unveiled in 2004 revealed that the quick retreat was intended to lull the Empire into a false sense of security and draw more soldiers into the front, away from Persia. In this regard, the intended aim did actually work, as the Empire was hyper-focussed on India and totally unprepared for the Persian revolt when it came in June. The Indus River, however, was not as impenetrable as the British thought, and the Imperial army made a major breakthrough along the centre of the front, crossing the Indus in August and the Chenab River in September. In October, a vast Imperial force pushed onwards to Bahawalpur, a name that is now infamous across the Empire for the totally unexpected and completely catastrophic defeat suffered there by the Imperial army, being enclosed by what was at the time the largest encirclement in history, only surpassed by a small margin in WW2. Field Marshal Henica, who commanded the Imperial forces at the battle, committed suicide the day after 130,000 Imperial soldiers surrendered at once after a battle that claimed some 270,000 Imperial lives, and Major Enaal Ranakke was seriously wounded at the battle, later dying while fighting the rear-guard action that covered the ensuing retreat. Part of why the Imperial defeat had been so apocalyptic was the British use of gas, when previously there had been a "gentleman's agreement" to use no such thing, and so the Imperial forces were totally unprepared for it. Throughout the year, Russia was struggling to come to terms with its catastrophic defeat and struggling to rebuild. The Tsar was re-instated as monarch in February, but with close to no political power at all, mainly serving a ceremonial role. The new Parliament was paralysed by constant bickering, and as the Bolsheviks grew in power and popularity, they attempted a coup at the end of November, which prompted the Tsar to take back control as an absolute ruler in his own coup just a week later. The Bolsheviks, fearing total destruction by the Tsar and despising his return, began a violent rebellion in October, seizing control of Petrograd and beginning the Russian Civil War, which would see the Tsar and his family executed, the White faction purged, and the establishment of the Soviet Union. 1918 The devastating defeat at Bahawalpur began a long and arduous retreat which was eventually named the Nesarian Death March. Pursued by the British all the way, who were now joined by the Americans and a small French contingent, the Imperial army suffered deadly attrition and constant harassment from rebel militia, most of which were supplied and directed by the Allies. At this point, the Persian rebels had taken control of so much of their country that they declared total independence and invited back the Shah to rule, although in truth he was the puppet of both prominent generals within Iran and the Allies. The Germans began to collapse after exhausting themselves in the Spring Offensive, which, while making significant territorial gains, had failed to achieve victory. With the army depleted and broken, the fresh Americans arriving on the scene and the Kaiser forced to abdicate in a revolution, Germany surrendered on the 11th of November. The news reached Regatu Faltas quickly. His army was shattered, the Allies were almost at the border of Avamoria, and his last ally was gone. Faltas called for an armistice a few hours later. The war was over, and the Empire had lost. Treaty of Aemea The Treaty of Aemea was signed on the 14th of May 1919. It formally ended the war between the Nesarian Empire and the Allies. The treaty broke up the Nesarian Empire into its constituent nations, including those of the core region, which had been united for over 1800 years. This alone caused serious economic strain as the highly integrated economies of these countries collapsed and had to rebuild from scratch, but reparations were placed on each of the core countries, the heaviest laid at the feet of Nesaria. The Russian territories were returned to Russia, but given over to the White faction in the ongoing Russian Civil War. Each country from the core region also had limits placed on its military, the strictest placed on Nesaria, which restricted not only the number of soldiers but additionally banned them from maintaining any tanks or armoured cars as well as any aircraft carrying weapons. Some countries, such as Iran, were glad to have independence, but the core countries and some others such as Armenia hated to see the empire go. None despised this so much as the Nesarians. The economic turmoil and deep national humiliation that resulted from the treaty spurred Emperor Adrion I to take power and found Nesarian Fascism. Adrion I succeeded in re-invigorating Nesaria and re-uniting most of the Empire before WW2 broke out.